The new eco, the chronicle which is interested in the economy in Mayennereturns this Tuesday to the first computer recycling center of Mayenne. It opened last November in La Chapelle-Craonnaise, in the Pays de Craon. At the origin of this idea, Cindy and Arezki Maachou, a couple who arrived from Quelaines-Saint-Gault a few years ago and who put down their suitcases at the Chapelle-Craonnaise. The idea came to them during the first confinement.
“We had people around us who did not necessarily have the number of PCs necessary to work remotely and for their children to study, so we made computers available to them and we said to ourselves that it was a shame to see everything that was in the dump that is thrown away and still reusable”describes Cindy, “it is from this observation that we started”.
– Alexandre Fremont
From recovery in companies and to the waste collection center
“The project was launched after almost a year of study”continues Arezki, “with the agents of the recycling center who gave us a list of everything that passed, we were able to establish a forecast and see if setting up a company for this kind of thing was viable”. There was enough material and of parts to recover to get started. Cindy takes care of the communication and management part, she can also do reconditioning and Arezki is more on the commercial part and he has the more technical capacities being a basic computer scientist. “The majority of our parts come from nearby companies, where you can pick up their equipment for free”continues Cindy, “from the recycling center and we have to order certain new parts such as hard drives”.
“We try to have as many things as possible to recover from the waste disposal center”explains Arezki, who does a first sorting on the spot, returns to the room to collect the parts and throws away everything that is not usable.
Social and solidarity economy
In total, it is almost 731 kg computer equipment that has already been recovered and reconditioned. The company presents an ESS label, for social and solidarity economy, “we are first and foremost a company but we also try to fight against the digital divide”says Arezki, “to be able to hire and train young people in reintegration in the IT profession in the future, it’s an acronym that suits us well in the end”.
– Alexandre Fremont
They also do maintenance and 3D printing, especially small plastic parts. A necessary diversity for them if they want to develop as much as possible in the department. “It’s true that if we grow we will need to hire”adds Cindy, “and then if we collect further and further away we will need more and more people, we really want to be part of the local economy”. You can count around 150 to 160 euros if you need a used and refurbished laptop.